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ON SHOPPING
A regular column on the most American of activities.
Counter Argument The department store makeover really is transformative: You leave feeling a whole lot uglier and poorer.
A Dressing-Down Yes, people wear shorts to the opera. But that just means I can wear a cocktail dress to the supermarket.
On Value I tried to determine if my painting was an actual Sheeler. The art museum's conclusion? Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.
Lo' and Behold I know what's behind a logo such as Louis Vuitton's LV, and yet I still want a $1,600 Vuitton bag. Go figure!
Paper or Plastic? There is always a price to pay for new technology, but right now I'M JUST TOO EXCITED THAT MY KINDLE HOLDS 1,000 BOOKS!
Crossing the Tan Line We work hard to cover our breasts and penises. And then summer comes along.
French Lessons A new exhibit explores Americans' obsession with French fashion (and the knock-offs they spawned at home).
A Temporary Uplift Want to end patriarchal oppression? Don't burn your bra — just get one that fits.
Boob Tube A 50-inch plasma TV feels gauche, but that's the shuffling progress of civilization for you.
Refueling Think things are slow on the NJ Turnpike? Try eating at its rest stops.
Have Tour, Will Travel In the market for a trip to China's Three Gorges, before the dam makes it one giant liquidation sale.
Sex? All the talk on Sex and the City misses both what's right and what's wrong with the film.
Body Service How Brazilian waxes make our era less like the freewheeling '60s and more like the Victorian years.
Bag Ladies Class struggles, identity, democratization, and postmodernism. They're all tied up in the shopping bag.
Open House The open house: Sunday afternoon voyeurism.
The End of the Affair I loved reading books. Buying them. Writing them. But in the age of the megastores, the love affair is over.
Home Bodies A home show is a domestic circus, with homeowners as its Super Mop-buying freaks.
Replacing the Volvo Deeply entrenched in a suburban lifestyle, I'm supposed to love my Volvo. But the car is not lovable.
Shopping With Henry Jaglom Going Shopping is Henry Jaglom's third film on female neurotic desires. Is he a genius or a jerk?
Department Store Elegy Department store culture belied the fact that women had nothing to do but shop. But they were an experience, smoky aisles and all.
Thrift Shop Buying To some, thrift stores are disgusting. To me, they hint at lives I'll never know.
Souvenirs Leather belt from Rio or fur hat from Russia, the souvenir is not so much a remembrance of things past as a promise of things to come.
The Impossibility of Gift-Giving Mauss said gift-giving was more about form than content. He must never have been gifted an ugly bracelet.
Supermarkets Why a supermarket is never quite right.
The Last Taboo To praise shopping is to breach the last taboo of academic culture.